At noon, beneath the Rock

Of Ages, rest and pray ;
Sweet is that shelter from the heat,

When the sun smites by day.

At evening, shut thy door,

Round the home altar pray;
And, finding there the house of God,

At Heaven's gate close the day.

When midnight veils our eyes,

Oh, it is sweet to say,
I sleep, but my heart waketh, Lord,

With thee to watch and pray !

TB

THERE is an eye that never sleeps,

Beneath the wing of night; There is an ear that never shuts,

When sink the beams of light.

There is an arm that never tires,

When human strength gives way; There is a love that never fails,

When earthly loves decay.

That eye is fixed on seraph throngs ;
That ear is filled with angels' songs ;

That arm upholds the world on high ;
That love is thrown beyond the sky.

But there's a power which man can wield

When mortal aid is vain ;
That eye, that arm, that love to reach,

That listening ear to gain.

That power is

prayer,

which soars on high, And feeds on bliss beyond the sky !

LONE with God! day's craven cares

Have crowded onward unawares ; The soul is left to breathe her prayers.

A

Alone with God! I bare my breast,
Come in, come in, O holy guest,
Give rest -- thy rest, of rest the best.

Alone with God! how still a calm
Steals o'er me, sweet as music's balm,
When seraphs sing a seraph's psalm.

Alone with God! no human eye
Is here with eager look to pry
Into the meaning of each sigh.

Alone with God! no jealous glare
Now ftings me with its torturing stare ;
No human malice says — beware !

Alone with God! from earth's rude crowd,
With joftling steps and laughter loud,
My better soul I need not throud.

Alone with God! He only knows
If sorrow's ocean overflows
The filent spring from whence it rose.

Alone with God! He mercy lends,
Life's fainting hope, life's meagre ends,
Life's dwarfing pain he comprehends.

Alone with God! He feeleth well
The soul's pent life that will o'erwell ;
The life-long want no words may tell !

Alone with God! still nearer bend
O tender Father condescend
In this my need to be my friend.

Alone with God! with suppliant mien
Upon thy pitying breast I lean,
Nor less because thou art unseen!

Alone with God! safe in thine arms,
O shield me from life's wild alarms,
O save me from life's fearful harms.

Alone with God! my Father, bless,
With thy celestial promises,
The soul that needs thy tenderness.

Alone with God! O sweet to me
This covert to whose shade I Alee,
To breathe repose in thee - in thee!

PRAYER FOR A NEW HEART.

FOR a heart to praise my God,

A heart from guilt set free ; A heart that's sprinkled with the blood,

So freely Thed for me!

A heart resigned, submissive, meek,

My blessed Saviour's throne, Where only Christ is heard to speak,

Where Jesus reigns alone :

A humble, lowly, contrite heart,

Believing, true, and clean ; Which neither life nor death can part

From Him that dwells within :

A heart in every thought renewed,

And full of love divine :

Perfect and right, and pure and good ;

A copy, Lord, of thine!

Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart,

Come quickly from above ;
Write thy new name upon my heart,

Thy new, best name of Love!

Wesley.

THE PRAYER OF THOMAS ELLWOOD,

:

H! that mine eye might closed be

To what concerns me not to see :
That deafness might possess my ear
To what concerns me not to hear :
That Truth my tongue might ever tie
From speaking words of vanity :
That no vain thought might ever rest
Or be conceived within my breast;
So that in deed and word and thought,
Glory may unto God be wrought.
But what are wishes ?. Lord mine eye
Is fixed on Thee, to Thee I cry!
Cleanse Lord, and purify my heart
And make it clean in every part ;
And when 't is pure, Lord keep it so,
For that is more than I can do.

1639-1713.

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